Know-How Exchange : E-Marketing

One of the best ways is to instill a datbease marketing program into your mix. This gives actual propects versus "leads" by possessing a clientele opt-in of prospects who are actually interested in your services. Doing so can greatly increase your conversion.

Nevertheless, there are some specialized list providers who actually provide very detailed matching to your demographic. From there, you can begin to build your database from responses.

Here's a list of several brokers/list managers to contact (in no particular order of preference):

Statlistics www.statlistics.com
Mal Dun Associates www.maldunn.com
J.F. Glaser www.glaserlists.com
Leon Henry Inc. www.leonhenryinc.com
L.I.S.T. Inc. www.l-i-s-t.com
DMG Lists www.dmglists.com

Also check out the web site for Circulation Managment magazine www.circman.com It should have links to other list brokers in a resource section. Folio magazine site might also be useful www.foliomag.com (I think).

Should you require further assistance is getting a strategy and plan implemented, I would be more than happy to propose our services. Please send me an email with the details and we can take it from there (just click on my name).

I hope this helps!

Looking forward to speaking with you about your project!

Good Luck!

Hi prafter,

As you know, the “cheapest qualified prospects” are relative. They’re relative to how qualified they really are and how many convert to sales. My experience with enterprise software marketing matches your “noisy and crowded” comments. If it were me, I’d focus on …

1. Start with the best complied and segmented list possible.

2. Send them a 3D snail mail GREAT OFFER package -- Help the buyer out by providing as much information as possible in an easy access manner (probably web delivered). Develop buyer’s calculator tools, provide competitive data (sometimes your competitors will be a better match for a prospective customer – so be it). Let this buyer’s process and buyer interactivity be the qualifying process.

3. Use the phone. Call before sending, after sending, mix open-ended survey questions into the conversations. Make the goal getting down to dozens (not hundreds) of QUALIFIED leads and that way you’ll have the focus, energy and resources to close high percentage of the fattest part of your bell curve.

This is a little broader than just qualified leads, but I think you have to look at the entire process -- as marketers, I think we are qualifying right up to the close.

Hope this helps,

- Steve

Are you the software vendor, or are you proposing services to a software vendor ?

As Nicholas says, the sales cycle for software can be 10 months. Thus the problem is not identifying prospects or buying lists, but the long term cultivation of opportunities.

If you hire a top salesperson, that person might spend substantial amounts of their time following up long-term potenetial, rather than closing sales. Some organizations establish an "inside sales team" to keep those opportunities on the "back burner" warm, so that the sales team can focus on immediate opportunities.

If one is a small company, the situation becomes difficult. You may not be able to afford a large "inside sales" department. And, most telemarketing agencies are good at generating initial interest, but their typical staff does not have the sales or technical skill to follow up a 10 month opportunity, to generate a stream of qualified leads.

My personal specialty is the long-term cultivation of opportunities, generating a stream of opportunities over time. I do this on a long-term part-time (affordable) basis for 8 or so small technically oriented companies. For more info, check out my profile and web site.